Hollywood in Search of Purpose

From the thunderous applause and ovation received by Al Gore at the Oscars, one would have thought he was an aging actor who had finally received a long-awaited award for best actor. He wasn’t.

Instead, what Gore provided for Hollywood and its members in the audience was validation. He made them feel good about themselves. So they applauded and cheered wildly. His award said that their attachment to the global-warming cause made them good people, enlightened, and ahead of the curve.

They awarded him so as to award themselves, and his acceptance verified that the man one-step away from the presidency was one of them. The courtship between Hollywood and D.C. politicians begun with the Clintons was sealed in marriage Oscar night with Gore as the bride and Hollywood as the groom.

All of us need validation from time to time. We want to feel good about ourselves. More than anything we crave purpose, to be part of something transcendent. Most of us find that purpose in patriotism, in religion, in wholesome family life, in sacrifice, and as bearers of tradition and timeless heritages.

Hollywood does not. They have become anti-American, celebrating a citizen-of-the-world mentality that blames America for all the world’s woes. Religion to many of them is not something sacred — unless it is Islam — but something to be scorned and made to look foolish through the media they operate. As to family life and venerated traditions, that was the hallmark of a Hollywood during its Louis B. Mayer golden era, not its present decadent, iconoclastic dark age.

Never before in history has there been a greater collection of self-indulgent, self-righteous, comfort-seeking hedonists than what is now found in Hollywood. Their obsession with celebrity is over shadowed only by their immersion in foolishness and emotional immaturity. Having all things temporal, they are desperately in search of a purpose.

For Hollywood, it is not enough to feel good, they must feel superior. After all, they are not simply actors but "artists." It is not enough for them to do good as individuals in private — Hollywood must make a statement — and in public. The insecure find their security as part of the group, the elitist mob.

Truth, practicality, and workability are inconsequential. Purpose is found in being first, counter-cultural, and above the mainstream. Purpose is found not so much in the affirmation of the cause but in the trashing and demonizing of those not subscribers to the cause.

Thus, for Hollywood, no matter the scientific evidence, global warming cannot be a cyclical phenomenon but only a man-made sin. Those not yet convinced of global warming are not skeptical thinkers but evil doers beholden to selfish interests. It was not simply applause but a noisy jeer at the non-believers.

Hollywood is always Looking for Mr. GoodBar. We watch their award shows where they incessantly compliment and extol one another and proclaim their work to be "important and ground-breaking." They fancy themselves public servants who are making their films for society’s own needed edification. Yes, they are so good, and we are so lucky to have them! They believe it about their movies, themselves, and their causes. Everything about them is "good."

In truth, a more accurate description of them would be: hypocrites. While warning of fuel emissions polluting the air, they travel in private planes, limousines, bigger cars, and own more cars than the average American. Their mansions and pools use more electricity and consume more energy than 20 homes belonging to those they call "uneducated" evangelical Christians. Their vacation homes alone were built with more irreplaceable lumber than 15 family homes of "unenlightened" conservative Republicans in middle America, "fly-over country." Their powders and make-up contaminate our underground aquifers and the scarce and unreplenishable jewels and fabrics they abundantly own come from mining, animal husbandry and other enterprises ravaging the environment and land.

It seems that Hollywood’s limousine liberals live by the adage "Do as I say, not as I do." But because they espouse the "right" cause, they feel good. And feeling good about oneself is all that matters. Among today’s elitists, one is deemed good not by how one personally lives his life, but by the causes and politics he espouses. Live like a king and preach socialism. Indulge yourself in Brentwood and Malibu while applauding Castro and the harsh frugality he has imposed on the Cuban people. Speak in the name of the people, yet live in material conditions far above the people. This is the new oligarchy found in the wealthy Left. They are the characters come alive of Animal Farm. They are exempt from what they demand of others. Why? Because they are who they are — better.

John Edwards, an "environmentalist," eviscerated 20 acres of forest land to make his driveway. When Al Gore, Mr. Green, was asked about the 20 times more electricity his Nashville home consumes above the average homeowner in Tennessee, he replied with some nonsense about his electricity use being supplied by “acceptable” means of power generation.

Well, most of us can’t afford these "acceptable" forms of energy consumption. This is, really, "Green for those with the green." No wonder Hollywood and wealthy elitists have made this their cause. It entails, for them, no sacrifice. Purpose without burden. Again, like so many proposals and policies coming from the wealthy Left, it is the average Joe who will suffer or lose his job so that the limousine liberals can feel good about themselves, pat themselves on the back about how superior they are, and give themselves a big round of applause at the Oscars.